Canadian Dessert – Nanaimo and Sparkling Wine

We’ve been exploring the wonderful food creations of Canada and we came across this little bite-sized dessert called ‘Nanaimo’.

Nanaimo bars are a rich, easy, no-bake dessert made up of three glorious layers: chocolate; vanilla custard; graham crackers, walnuts and coconut.

The delicious Canadian Dessert wouldn’t be complete on Glass of Bubbly without having an award winning Sparkling Wine alongside it and we’ve gone for Domaine Bergeville, located in the Quebec province of Canada. Let’s find out a little about them!

Domaine Bergeville

Located in the highest altitude wine-growing region in Quebec, planting their hybrid vines and their Vitis Vinifera. This high-altitude region is the Appalachian Highlands, which is in the heart of the Eastern Townships.

The Quebec wine region is sometimes rather fragile, with Domaine Bergeville having to deal with intense -30°C colds in winter and heat waves of 30°C in summer, this is where their vines try and withstand the snow, frost and short ripening period, but even then, these vines are delicate, and the winery never knows how many grapes will come through, but despite the harsh and challenging conditions, the winery is happy to devote themselves to the process.

Domaine Bergeville treats their vineyard as a living being, forwarding biodiversity and giving back to their land and their vines.

They place their vintages on a 15 to 36 month lees to help evolve the contents inside the bottle, they say during their second fermentation, their wines refine and concentrate their character.

Domaine Bergeville – Le Rosé 2020 – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Soft pink floral, orange blossom, raspberries, strawberries, pink grapefruit, peach, apricot with toasty, oaky, toast crumbs and more on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Soft, a delicate expression of pink and orange characters, orange blossom, orange skin, pink floral and blossom, toasty and yeasty notes with a lovely display of peach skin on the palate.”

Gold Medal in the Gastronomic Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022

The Canadian Dessert – Nanaimo

Named after Nanaimo, a city in British Columbia, where it first gained its Canadian popularity, it was created after World War II, today, the Nanaimo bar is very popular in Canada, with it declared Canada’s favourite confection, which means a sweet delicacy.

Made with three glorious layers, with cracker crumbs, coconut, walnut, cocoa powder and melted butter crafting the first, vanilla and custard perfection the second and melted chocolate finishing the top.

Ingredients

Base Layer
¾ Cup Salted Butter (Melted)
​1⁄4 Cup Granulated Sugar
​1⁄3 Cup Cocoa Unsweetened
2 Cups Graham Crackers Crumbs (Can be Substituted for Biscuits)
½ Cup Walnuts Chopped
1 Cup Desiccated Coconut

Middle Layer
½ Cup Butter (At Room Temperature)
3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoons Instant Custard Powder
2 Cups Icing Sugar
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Top Layer
1 Cup Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Butter

 

This dessert requires no cooking, you only need to melt the butter, stir in the sugar and cocoa powder, then add cracker crumbs, coconut and chopped walnuts. Press into an even layer and place in the freezer.

Now creating the middle layer, mix room temperature butter until smooth, add icing sugar, vanilla extract, custard powder and milk until combined, result should be creamy and thick, then spread this over the first layer and place back in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Put your chocolate and some butter in a bowl in the microwave until the chocolate is soft and runny, mix until smooth then spread over the second layer, place it back in the freezer for 5 minutes, (or until the chocolate hardens) then enjoy!

The Pairing – Nanaimo and Canadian Sparkling Wine

After we’ve created our delicious dessert and popped open our bottle of Canadian Fizz, it’s about time to enjoy them both together.

Pairing Notes – “The Sparkling Wine comes in to add a delicate, but powerful enough touch of peach and apricot to the overall palate profile, then the chocolate comes storming back into play with crunchy walnuts and coconut from the base.”